In a time when police-involved shootings of civilians dominate the media, Louisiana legislators have passed a bill that would expand the state’s current hate crimes statute to include killing police officers, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.

HB 953, also know as the Blue Lives Matter Bill, received affirmative votes in both the house and the senate, and on Thursday (May 19) it was sent to Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards for his signature.CNN reports that Edwards will soon sign the bill into law. If that happens, Louisiana will become the first state to embrace this statute, which would be amended to read:

It shall be unlawful for any person to select the victim of the following offenses against person and property because of actual or perceived race, age, gender, religion, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry of that person or the owner or occupant of that property or because of actual or perceived membership or service in, or employment with, an organization, or because of actual or perceived employment as a law enforcement officer, firefighter or emergency medical services personnel.

“In the news, you see a lot of people terrorizing and threatening police officers on social media just due to the fact that they are policemen. Now, this protects police and first-responders under the hate-crime law,” state representative Lance Harris—who introduced the bill in April—told CNN. “If you’re going to have an extensive hate crime statute then we need to protect those that are out there protecting us on a daily basis. There is a concerted effort in some areas to terrorize and attack police and I think this will go forward and stop that.”

Former police Lt. Randy Sutton—spokesperson for Blue Lives Matter, which was formed in response to the Black Lives Matter movement—told CNN that he supports the bill. “[It’s] important because symbolically it advises that there is a value to the lives of police officers. When you give value, it acts as a deterrent in one sense, but it also is a tool to add extra punishment for the assaults and the crimes against them,” Sutton said.

Critics disagree on the need for the law. Allison Padilla-Goodman, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, issued a statementon the bill earlier this month, saying:

[Laws against] hate crimes are designed to protect people’s most precious identity categories—their “immutable characteristics” like race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity and gender identity. Proving the bias intent is very different for these categories as it is for the bias intent of a crime against a law enforcement officer—and adding professional categories to the current hate crimes statue deters efforts from protecting against identity-based crimes.

Hey Gang. This was on patreon Tuesday morning for the current 55 subscribers and is now available for everyone as of Saturday Morning. We have an instagram stalker and some hardcore mansplaining to come wtih it.

Two women in North Carolina have been arrested and charged with second-degree kidnapping and sexual battery of a transgender woman in a women’s bathroom. Investigators said that Amber Harrell, 38, and Jessica Fowler, 31, followed an unnamed 29-year-old woman into the bathroom at Milk Bar last month, and locked the door. They proceeded to allegedly […]

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An archbishop caused fury in Spain by saying domestic violence happens because “women do not obey men”. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toledo, Braulio Rodriguez, told his congregation that wives could avoid being hit by doing what they are told. Women could also escape being physically abused by not asking their husbands for a divorce […]

CHICAGO (Fox 32 News) - A 17-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting a transgender woman last year in a secluded area on the South Side was ordered held without bail Sunday. Tremon T. Hill was charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 13 slaying of Dejanay Stanton, a 24-year-old trans woman he was in a […]

A US Border Patrol agent in Texas has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and other charges in the September killings of four women who prosecutors say were sex workers. Juan David Ortiz, a 10-year veteran of US Customs and Border Patrol, entered the pleas on Thursday before a judge in the border city of Laredo. He […]

The Modern Slavery Bill, which finally became law yesterday, will require businesses with turnovers of more than $100 million to report what they are doing to prevent slavery in supply chains. The legislation is also part of a wider push to stop Australians from taking part in “voluntourism” schemes which do more harm than good. According to […]

https://www.paypal.me/PhoenixAndWilliam https://www.patreon.com/WineCellarMediaFund Here are the next steps for 8 remaining Flint water crisis defendants After three plea agreements in just two weeks, only eight current and former city and state government employees remain accused of crimes tied to the Flint water crisis. Here's what's ahead in each of those cases, the first of which is […]

Six families of victims killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School won a legal victory Friday in their fight against controversial radio and internet personality Alex Jones. A judge in Connecticut has granted the families’ discovery requests, allowing them access to, among other things, Infowars’ internal marketing and financial documents. The judge has scheduled a hearing […]

A 51 -year-old White man was arrested for viciously punching an 11-year-old Black girl. The incident occurred on Jan. 12, 2019, at the Asheville Mall, according to Asheville Citizen-Times. The incident was recorded on a cell phone video. In the video, it appears that a group of Black kids were together when David Bell told […]

Two Cis Women Arrested for Attacking Transgender Woman in Bar Bathroom Two women in North Carolina have been arrested and charged with second-degree kidnapping and sexual battery of a transgender woman in a women’s bathroom Investigators said that Amber Harrell, 38, and Jessica Fowler, 31, followed an unnamed 29-year-old woman into the bathroom at Milk […]

Hey gang. We dig into Transmisogynoir for this one and touch on a past story from Oregon against maybe gay, maybe bi, maybe lesbian, maybe transgender youth. Why all the "maybe"? Because we're using LGBT as a word instead being specific to each individual. In the end, we do a brief un-credited history on pedophilic […]

The body of another young black man has been found at the West Hollywood apartment of Ed Buck — a prominent Democratic donor who allegedly has a fetish for drugging sex workers — reports Wehoville. Buck, a white man in his 60s, was investigated previously by authorities after the death of Gemmel Moore, who died of a methamphetamine overdose […]

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin baby sitter who allegedly killed a 2-month-old boy then pretended he was alive when she gave the boy back to his mother has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide. A criminal complaint filed Friday says 28-year-old Marissa Tietsort of Wausau caused the infant’s death in October, then put him in a […]

TUCSON – Abortion has long been a controversial topic and a new law that went into effect in Arizona Jan. 1 is now adding even more conflict. Women seeking an abortion now have to face a series of questions about their decision. Many oppose this new law, saying it is too intrusive. Senate Bill 1394 requires […]

Hey gang. Phoenix And William back up in it. Our segments run a little longer than planned but the main story has a lot of detail. And she has her kids. There is also an Abortion Rights story and a Tariq Nashed tangent.

Hey gang. We're falling behidn in our program this week because we have a couple of 70+ year old white supremacists calling DCFS on us to try to steal custondy of the child. I hit a couple of stories but it's hard to focus right now. Thank you.

Boby has lost track of the precise number of times she has been gang-raped. She thinks it is between eight and 10. “Every time it has been without condom,” she says. “Every time I was badly beaten.” As a trans sex worker in India’s capital city Delhi, the smiling, unabashed 25-year-old lives under a constant threat of […]